This invention relates to a clip for carton lid flaps, and more specifically relates to a reuseable clip without moving parts for holding the lid flaps of packing cartons in an open position and to a method of using the clip.
Cardboard boxes or cartons are ubiquitous in manufacturing companies, retailers who deliver customers"" orders, and print shops. The most familiar cardboard carton is a square or rectangular box stamped from a single piece of corrugated cardboard. The cardboard sheet is slit and scored into a shape that can be folded and glued into a cube or rectangular prism with four walls attached to each other and attached flaps to form the bottom and lid. This type of carton is sometimes called a self-closing carton because there is no separate lid.
The cartons are usually stored flat and assembled only when needed for filling. The packing operation in a business often assembles as many cartons as will fit on the floor of the packing area and fills the cartons with goods in assembly-line fashion. Often, styrofoam packing material, such as the nuggets called xe2x80x9cpopcorn,xe2x80x9d is dispensed from a hopper via a movable chute into the cartons to protect the goods.
To assemble a new carton, the packer pops the flat walls into a cube or rectangle prism. The lid and bottom flaps are scored for folding, but generally each is initially extended coplanar with the wall to which the flap is attached. The packer folds the bottom flaps inward to cover the bottom of the carton and tapes them in place, or secures any other fastening arrangement, such as tabs and slots.
The fresh carton is set on the floor on its bottom and made ready for packing. Leaving the lid flaps in the extended position makes loading the carton inconvenient. xe2x80x9cPopcornxe2x80x9d must be dispensed from farther away and more is spilled than when it is dispensed directly into the interior of the carton. The extended flaps are rigid and abrasive. People packing cartons frequently cut or scrape their hands, arms, and even faces when bending over the carton.
The lid flaps may be folded down from the extended position, but the springiness of the cardboard of a fresh carton prevents the flaps from staying in the fully open position adjacent the outside face of the carton wall. Folded-down flaps usually end up spread outward from the carton walls. The outspread flaps allow fewer cartons to fit on the floor of the packing area and cause the cartons to be arranged less neatly than desired for efficient, fast packing. Flaps of adjacent boxes interfere; picking up or bumping a carton may overturn nearby cartons.
Some packers fasten the lid flaps in the open position in some manner. Clips for holding the flaps open are known, but are not in commercial use. Of clips that have been patented, some are awkward to use; some are too bulky to store; and some pose danger to the user. Others are for specialized use or would disfigure the carton, which is unacceptable to most shippers.
Some packers put a piece of adhesive tape on each flap to hold it in the open position. This also tends to disfigure the carton and wastes the packer""s time trying to remove the tape carefully. Other packers create chain loops of intertwined rubber bands that can be slipped around the entire perimeter of the carton to hold the flaps. This is a popular and traditional craft on shipping docks, but not really a means for making packing efficient or speedy. The chains fit only a limited range of size of carton and do not last long.
Therefore, there has been a need for an easy to use device for helping a person pack or unpack a cardboard carton more efficiently, safely, and quickly. Such a device must be simple to use, convenient to store, and durable. The device must not cause damage to the carton or goods being packed or unpacked.
The invention is a clip for holding the lid flaps of a cardboard carton in an open position for convenient and safe packing of the carton.
The clip is generally a linear spine with three tines: a center post, a long prong, and a short prong. In use, the center post is inserted into an interior corner of a carton. The prongs are spaced apart from the center post sufficiently that the prongs fall on the exterior of the carton walls when the center post is within the corner. As the clip is lowered onto the corner of the carton, the prongs each engage a lid flap and lever the flap downward.
The long prong is about the same length as the center post, but the short prong is shorter than either. The unequal length of the prongs allows the packer to insert the clip over one flap at a time while holding down the flap with one hand.
The preferred embodiment described below is of a universal design that can be used in an approximately right-angled corner of a carton of any size. Generally, two clips per carton would be used; one clip in each diagonally opposite corner. Each clip holds the two flaps adjacent the corner.
The present invention is a means of holding the lid flaps of cartons in the open position so that the greatest number of cartons will fit on the floor of the packing area in a neat matrix for high speed packing. The clip is reuseable and durable, and can be stored in minimal space on a shelf. The clip is safe and easily used by a single packer. The clip does not impair access to the interior space of the carton, does not disarrange the packed goods when it is removed, and does not damage or disfigure the carton.